The present invention relates generally to electroactive polymers that convert between electrical energy and mechanical energy. More particularly, the present invention relates to electroactive polymers and their abilities and applications related to surface deformation, surface texturing and surface geometry control.
In many applications, it is desirable to convert between electrical energy and mechanical energy. Common technologies that convert electrical energy to mechanical work include motors and piezoelectric ceramics for example. Most conventional electrical to mechanical technologies provide limited mechanical output abilities. Motors provide continuous rotary output—and generally require additional and bulky coupling to provide discontinuous output or low-frequency motion. Piezoelectric ceramics are typically limited to in-plane strains between the rigid electrodes below about 1.6 percent and are not suitable for applications requiring greater strains or out-of plane deformations.
New high-performance polymers capable of converting electrical energy to mechanical energy, and vice versa, are now available for a wide range of energy conversion applications. One class of these polymers, electroactive elastomers (also called dielectric elastomers, electroelastomers, or EPAM (Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle)), is gaining wider attention. Electroactive elastomers may exhibit high energy density, stress, and electromechanical coupling efficiency. To date, electroactive polymer transducers and devices have been directed towards in-plane strains for conversion between electrical and mechanical energy.
Many applications demand a light-weight, scaleable device that converts between electrical and mechanical energy in out-of plane directions.